Popular video-sharing Web site YouTube takes a new step in its quest to boost the company’s advertising revenue. The plan to show full-length television shows and films will now also include Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s archives, in addition to the content from other networks. Google, YouTube’s owner, has been searching for several months for a good strategy to take its earnings to the next level.

The first show scheduled for release on YouTube is MGM’s American Gladiators TV series, but even though it used to be rather entertaining and attract quite a crowd, the show is more than 10 years old and it will need some back up in order for the new program to properly take off. Among the movies expected to become available on the Web site’s channels are The Magnificent Seven, Bulletproof Monk and also clips from movies such as Legally Blonde. The movies will be viewable for free, as the company relies on advertising. Each video will feature ads in different formats, from video to banners.

Another company that reached a similar deal with YouTube is CBS Corp., which also opened its archives for online access. The company offers full-length shows such as Star Trek, Beverly Hills 90210 and Young and the Restless. Time Warner Inc’s HBO also offers its content on the Web site and there are many TV networks running short clips on YouTube, actions which significantly boost their popularity.

Up until recently, YouTube only allowed clips with 10 minutes or less but the problem was and still is that it is very hard to put ads on short clips, as viewers become irritated and the overall result is bad. People don’t want to sit through a 45 second commercial in order to see a 2 minute clip and this is why full-length clips seem to be the solution.

One of the problems that Google’s officials might meet is linked to the competition. A similar service is provided by the online video site Hulu, owned by News Corp and General Electric’s NBC Universal. The Web site offers full-length shows from News Corp's Fox networks, NBC and CBS and reportedly, it manages to make as much ad revenue as YouTube with a significantly smaller user base. This might also be the reason why YouTube decided to enter this segment and the competition between the two will now get a lot stiffer.

Another aspect is YouTube’s image as a Web site offering low quality video programs. The company addressed the issue with a High Quality option and also announced the development of a new video playing software which will lead to much better images.

There is no doubt that other partnerships will follow, as the company is looking to expand its offer. “We believe in comprehensiveness, and we want to have deals with everybody,” explained Jordan Hoffner, the director of content partnerships for YouTube. He also added that “We want to be able to give users the most content possible.”